Fam­ily writ­ing ac­tiv­ity at Si­mar Na­ture Re­serve

The Na­tional Lit­er­acy Agency, in col­lab­o­ra­tion with BirdLife Malta, or­gan­ised a Fam­ily Writ­ing Ac­tiv­ity as part of the Malta Writ­ing pro­gramme for chil­dren aged seven years and older at the Si­mar Na­ture Re­serve in Xemx­ija.

This was a unique op­por­tu­nity for par­ents/guardians to par­tic­i­pate in an ed­u­ca­tional ex­pe­ri­ence to­gether with their chil­dren. The ac­tiv­ity be­gan with a guided tour of the na­ture re­serve led by re­serve vol­un­teers. Fam­i­lies had the op­por­tu­nity to learn more about birds and ob­serve them at the re­serve.

After the tour, chil­dren and par­ents alike par­tic­i­pated in the writ­ing on-site ac­tiv­ity led by the writ­ing tu­tors. Four par­ents/guardians and six chil­dren col­lab­o­rated in a fun and re­laxed set­ting, to cre­ate their own sto­ries. To­wards the end of the writ­ing work­shop, par­tic­i­pants were guided to edit and re­vise their first draft. As the ac­tiv­ity came to a close many chil­dren were keen to share and read out their story.

The Na­tional Lit­er­acy Agency reg­u­larly or­gan­ises such writ­ing ac­tiv­i­ties through­out the year. In ad­di­tion to writ­ing, the Agency also pro­motes read­ing and a fam­ily read­ing event, Magic of Sto­ries, is hosted at Si­mar Na­ture Re­serve ev­ery Thurs­day at 4.30pm. Fam­i­lies who are in­ter­ested in at­tend­ing fu­ture events should con­tact the Na­tional Lit­er­acy Agency on 2598 2994.